Thill-coupling clamp



(No Mod-el.) A

. B. N.v TORREY.

Thill Coupling Clamp.

N0. 241,251. y Patented May1o,1ss1..

NMa

um, Y mln N. PETERS, Phoihogmpher. Washington. D. C.

PATENT erica,

BARTLETT N. TORREY, OF ORESTON, I()\VA.

THlLL-COUPLING C'LANI P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,251, dated May 10,1881.

(No model.)

To alt lwhom t may concern Be it known that I, BARTLETT N. TORREY, ofthe United States, residing at Creston, in the county ot' Union andState ot' Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inThill and Tongue Coupling Clamps; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the saine, reference being had to theaccoinpanying drawings, and toletters or figures of reference marked thereon, which forni a part ofthis specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective showing` myiinproved clamp. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation, showing myimprovement applied in coupling a thill to an axle. Fig. 3 is asectional elevation, showing its application in coupling a tongue ordraft-pole.

This invention relates to a thill and tongue coupling clamp, or clampfor compressing elastic anti-rattler blocks in thill and tonguecouplings 5 and the invention consists in constructions and combinationsof parts hereinafter dcscribed, and set forth in the claims heretoannexed.

Referring to the drawings byletters, the saine letter indicating thesame part in the different figures, letter A represents a section of acarriage-axle; B, a clip; U, jaws j'iroiecting from the clip, D, rearend of a thill, E, thill-iron with eye c on its end, and F rubber-blockplaced between the eye c and clip B. The thilliron E is curved upwardand forward from the eye c. The foregoing parts are shown by full linesand constitute parts of an ordinary vehicle, which may be constructed inany usual manner.

Gr represents my improved clamp, having jaws gg on one end, which arepreferably curved so that they may clasp pretty closely around the rearend ot' the thill D or iron E. The jaws g are journaled to each other atVg', and have their rear ends extended to form jaws gf. Separating thejaws g will canse the jaws g to approach each other, and vice versa.

H H are jaws projecting laterally, one from each jaw g, and are locatednear the pivoted end ot' the jaws g, and preferably curved -inwardly ortoward each other at their outer ends.

I also prefer to have them curved or inclined toward the jaws g at theirouterends.

At Fig. 3 an ordinary tongue or draft pole iron J, with coupling-eyej,is shown, which projects straight or nearly straight from the axle, anddoes not curve upwardly as does the thilliron E.

K is a lever, tapering or wr-nlgeshaped at one end.

W'hen used in coupling thills, as shown at Fig. 2,the clamp is placedover the axleA, with the jaws g embracing the thill D, or the iron E, orboth, according to the extension of the thill-iron beyond the end of thethill. The wed ge-shaped end of the lever K is then passed downwardbetween the jaws g, and, forcing them apart, will force the jawsg towardeach other, so as to hold the thill securely. The lower end ofthe leverrests against the axle, and its upper end may be drawn backward to drawthe eye c against the elastic block F, and coinpress it so that theordinary coupling-bolt in ay be inserted. The jaws g may be adjusted onthe thill, and a lever used without a wedgeshaped end, it' preferred. Apiece of leather or other soft material may be attached to the leverwhere it rests against the axle, or simply placed between said parts.

Then used in coupling tongues or draft-poles without raising the forwardend ot' the tongue, the clamp is placed `on the axle with its jaws Hpointing downward, so that they may embrace the coupling-iron J. Thelever K may then be used in the same manner as hereinbefore described,to force the iron J backward and compress the rubber so that couplingmay be efected. By means of the jaws EI the clamp is made to draw thetongue-iron J backward and not upward.

I do not limit my claims to the exact construction ot' the clamp asshown 5 but That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. A coupling-clamp having hinged jaws adapted to embrace the thill ortongue, with their rear ends extended to form other jaws which receiveand hold a lever, by which force may be applied to compress the elasticblock between the thill or tongue iron and axle, sub. stantially asshown and described.

2. A coupling-clamp having hinged jaws g- IOC or H, adapted to embracethe thill or tongue, with their rear ends extended to form other jaws,gg, in combination with a wedge-shaped lever, which m ay be used totighten the hold of the jaws g or H on the thill or tongue, while at thesame time used to force the thill or tongue backward and compress theelastic coupling-block, substantially as and for the purpose specied.

3. A coupling-clamp having jaws g g, with other jaws, H H, projectinglaterally therefrom, and with their rear ends extended to form otherjaws, g g", by means of which both sets of first-named jaws may beoperated, substanb tially as and for the purpose specified.

el. In combination with u coupling-clamphaving hinged jaws g H y, alever which may be inserted between the jaws g and used to compress theelastic rubber in thlll or tongue couplings, substantially as and forthe purpose speei- 2o BARTLETT N. TORREY.

Witnesses JNO. S. BLACK, H. A. GIVEN.

